Finishing Strong

From 09 December

It took two of us "constantly stirring", but finally the Three Cheese Chicken Garlic Pasta, garlic bread and salad were ready. Good recipe - no one gagged - though I did throw in a good handful of Italian spices and pepper.

BTW, when we took Arielle to the doc this week he informed me that she has a "highly developed gag reflex." No surprise. Zander just came down to tell me he's become the Pope. I tried to explain. He's convinced he reached the highest level of Knights of Honor and is now the Pope. I guess someone else around here is going to have to reach the highest level before we can figure this one out. Hmmm...THIS is why I blog when they are in bed. ::snort::

The Advent Storybook is a hit! Stacia prayed tonight, "Thank you God for all these beautiful brothers and Arielle, too." Ahhhh.....

Grandma and Grandpa to the RESCUE. We had a treat to hide for our Advent Hunt. Thanks!

From 09 December

They were all very surprised. I saved the things you didn't wrap and they'll be our Advent Prizes for the rest of the year. We told them they were from Grandma and Grandpa. I'm scheming to save enough of the Newman O's to make Oreo Truffles.

A full day and.....

Bre will be home in 7 days
Krista will be home in 9 days
Jamin and Josiah will be home in 11 days
Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Thursday...

I just finished our Family Calendar....shhhh.... Mom, when they arrive, please give the second one to Will & Sherri. I knew I wanted to make these again, but I wasn't sure it was going to happen. Shew. I will not wait until the last minute next year....made it with 20 min to spare. No, I haven't ordered our cards and I'm not sure I will. I'm still debating. One benefit of waiting until December arrived is that I do the monthly pages with photos from that month. SO....I had some Advent photos and even one of the play for December's page. LOL

We held our last Bible study of 2009 today. We've voted to go to the Onsen next week. It's our Christmas Party.....I toyed with suggesting we wait a week to maybe talk Windy into going (::snort::) and take my girls too...but I decided if I hope to get the girls there it will probably be best not to have a whole group going?

Mom, they made it. Thanks. The kids are very excited to see something besides the lone amazon.com box under the tree. Though, I HAVE had our Christmas books spread out under the tree and guess I'll need to move them. ::grin::

We ran out of little gifts to hide last night.....guess I better think of something for tonight.

I can't remember if Mike said he'd be home late tonight or on time...guess he'll surprise us. I think I'll go make some 3 Cheese Garlic Chicken Pasta.

Bre will be home in 7 days
Krista will be home in 9 days
Jamin and Josiah will be home in 11 days
Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Dairy Hollow House Skillet-Sizzled Buttermilk Cornbread

*This is our favorite. EVERYONE eats it.

From 09 December

1 C stone ground yellow cornmeal

1 C unbleached white all purpose flour (I ground Prairie Gold)

1 T baking powder

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

2 - 4 T of sugar (Rapadura/honey - adjust milk amount)

1 1/4 C buttermilk (or 1 C yogurt mixed with 1/4 C water)

1 large egg

1/4 C mild oil

2 - 4 T butter

Preheat oven to 375*. (It really needs to be HOT).

In a large bowl combine cornmeal, flour,baking powder, salt, baking soda, and sugar. If baking soda appears at all lumpy, sift in. Stir well to combine.

In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, egg, and oil.

Place a 9 - 1- 1/4 in skillet over medium heat (author uses #7, mine is #8 ), add butter and heat until the butter is sizzling seriously. Tilt the skillet to coat the sides.

As the butter's melting, quickly mix the wet ingredients with the dry, and using a wooden spoon, stir together with as few strokes as possible. Don't beat it; don't smooth it out. Scrape the batter into the hot, buttered skillet - if you've gotten it hot enough it will sizzle as it goes in - and pop it in the oven immediately.

Bake until golden brown on top, 25 - 30 minutes. Cut into wedges; serve hot.

*Taken from "Passionate Vegetarian" by Crescent Dragonwagon. This would be a great Christmas gift. I first saw it in the library, then got it from Paperback Swap. I love READING this cookbook, that will make sense to some of you. ::grin::

Tonight, for a quick dinner, I cooked sloppy joes in the skillet, topped it with cornbread and cooked it all at 400* for 20 min. These were a bit dry...more sloppy next time. ::snort::

From 09 December

You can find more tasty eats on my Recipe Index.

Bre will be home in 8 days
Krista will be home in 10 days
Jamin and Josiah will be home in 12 days
Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Whose Wearing the Pants?

This is an actual Dockers Store Ad. I've seen it around a few places (I think on Becky's Blog first) and it's made me laugh, and made me think. Hmm.....they must feel it's a good marketing ploy to appeal to men to "wear the pants." What does that mean? Not sure....but I'm wondering. (Hey - it's cold and our Japanese Lessons were cancelled. ::snort::). They must not fear a huge backlash from feminists. That could be a good sign. They must think most men can think of nothing to better prove they're men than to give in to a clever marketing ploy. They assume most men feel brow beaten....Of course, I believe Levi's owns Dockers and they are known for supporting things that certainly don't encourage traditional manhood....but for today....this Ad made me smile. Though I haven't ordered any Dockers yet.

Bre will be home in 8 days
Krista will be home in 10 days
Jamin and Josiah will be home in 12 days
Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Brrrrr.....I'd Forgotten...

....about garbage can lids that are frozen to the can.....

....about "warming a car up" before you hop in.....

....about windshield wipers that freeze to the windshield....

...about snow that falls briefly and then melts...leaving ice and gloom...but soon we'll have lots and lots of white....or so the old timers tell me.

I'm content to stay home. WHY are Stacia and Zander still running around in shorts when the rest of us have jackets, toe socks, long pants and warm slippers on?????

Bre will be home in 8 days
Krista will be home in 10 days
Jamin and Josiah will be home in 12 days
Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Quick Update

It snowed yesterday. Not a lot..but enough to make some of the roads tricky and a long commute home for Mike. The roads thawed by noon and were icy by 4:30.

It's ironic that I've planned life out here on the Japanese Prairie so that lessons and Bible Study come to US. This takes into account the well-known fact that I've had at least one accident in each Northern Tier assignment. Our first day with yucky roads of any sort and I had a 8:45 a.m. doctor's appointment for Arielle. ::snort:: We took it slow. We were fine.

Arielle most likely has strep. She was feeling BAD yesterday, but I look for her to feel increasingly better each day.

School, more PWOC calls and emails...life is just life. ::snort::

Bre will be home in 8 days
Krista will be home in 10 days
Jamin and Josiah will be home in 12 days
Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

New Advent Storybook

For over eleven years our family has read one of the books in the Jotham's Journey Trilogy during Advent. These books follow a child, each on a rather incredible journey that climaxes in Bethlehem at Christ's birth. A passage is read each day. A devotional is included, though I often found my theology wasn't a "match" with the author's. We enjoyed this practice. This year as we pulled out the book, I began to realize that Stacia is old enough to realize the danger in the story, but not quite old enough to fully realize it's a MADE UP STORY and everything will be ALRIGHT IN THE END....she struggles with bad dreams. Rather than give her an exciting hook to deal with each night...."It was Decca of Meggedo, now go to bed...." through Advent we began a search for something different.

We've enjoyed having more time to linger over our Jesse Tree Devotionals and Adorenaments (which cover the names of Christ).

Christie, my partner in Children's ministry these past few months, suggested a book she found on clearance and had been reading to her 3 year old. The Advent Story Book, is a child's picture book. In this book by Antonie Schneider a young bear is eagerly waiting for Christmas. Mama bear tells him that Christmas is just "24 stories away" and each night she tells him a story about the adventures of a little bear as he follows his special star to Bethlehem. It's a cute story. It's also a bit fanciful at times. The illustrations are great. Each night's story is only a page long. Our book arrived yesterday and Stacia, Zander and Nolan sat down to read the first 15 days of the book with me. More was requested, but I informed them we'd caught up and now would have to wait for bedtime to read a page a day. ::snort:: If you are looking for something for your younger ones to enjoy with daily readings, this may fit the bill. It does NOT have devotionals....but it does have a daily thought....and we are doing other devotionals.

Samples of daily thoughts are: "faith can move mountains," "if you are ever lost in the dark, this light can lead you home," "a good deed can bring unexpected rewards,"God's love can warm and brighten the coldest, darkest night."

Visit my All Things Advent Index for more ideas, tips and reviews.
Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...